Escape's picks of the week

The Savoy Hotel in London closes its doors on Saturday for a 16-month, £100m refurbishment, but fans of the iconic property can snap up a little piece of the hotel to take home. From 18-20 December, Bonhams Auctioneers is selling 3,000 items and it's all surprisingly reasonable - mahogany tables and cabinets from £200, standard lamps £100, double beds from £400, although goodness knows how many people have slept in them. For a catalogue call Bonhams on 01666 502200.

The flight

Next Sunday, Swiss (0845 601 0956; swiss.com/uk) launches a new route from Manchester to Geneva. The flight will be a boon for skiers heading for the French and Swiss Alps, and fares start at £99 return, including free carriage of skis or snowboards.

The website

A new site lets you search by area to find Britain's best 'independent and distinctive' country hotels. The site, ukcountryhotels.co.uk, lists about 750 properties, with more to be added in the new year. Hotels are charged between £150 and £350 to appear on the site, but the founders insist they check the quality of applicants.

The book

Need a challenge for the New Year? Trailblazer's newly updated guide to the Pembrokeshire Coast Path is published this week, with 96 maps, bus and train timetables, places to stay, and notes on flora and fauna on the 186-mile trek past sandy beaches, secluded coves and dramatic cliffs. It's available in bookshops for £9.99 or from trailblazer-guides.com.

The rip-off

Want to inquire about train times and prices for travel across Europe? Call European Rail's new number - 0901 235 0105 - and you'll pay 60p a minute. There is also a 'booking line' (020 7619 1083) which costs the same as a normal phone call, but callers are discouraged from using it unless they are going to book. 'We need both because otherwise we could be on the phone all day answering inquiries but never taking a single booking,' European Rail said last week.

The festival

Chuck Berry, the 81-year-old rock'n'roll legend, was last week announced as the headline act for Camp Bestival (0844 888 4410; ticketline.co.uk/campbestival.html), a spin-off from the Isle of Wight's Bestival, which takes place for the first time next summer. The line-up for the event, at Lulworth Castle, Dorset, also features the Flaming Lips and DJ Andrew Weatherall, but the idea is that the festival is only partly about the music, and more about recreating the atmosphere of a traditional camping holiday - with dance lessons, a knitting tent and campfire storytelling. It runs from 18-20 July and tickets cost £120 for adults (under-12s free).

The mountain event

The Mountain Festival at Fort William (01397 700 707; mountainfestival.co.uk) takes place from 15-23 February and includes films, lectures and photography exhibitions, plus guided walks, skills workshops and parties.

The gadget

Sat-nav systems usually make do with terse instructions to turn left or right, but a new device will give a commentary on sites of historical interest as you drive past. Invented by history enthusiast Daniel Taylor, the RoadTour (roadtour.co.uk), works on any Garmin sat-nav system, and can be downloaded from the website for £19.95. The software includes commentaries on 600 key UK attractions, including castles, stately homes and battlefields.

The warning

The Post Office has warned skiers about the high price of lift passes, lessons and equipment hire in Canada, thanks to currency fluctuations in the past year. While everyone knows sterling is riding high against the US dollar, few have noticed that the pound has dropped by almost 10 per cent against the Canadian dollar. The result is that a six-day lift pass for Banff costs an eye-watering £242 at Post Office rates, the highest in their survey.